nomnom: fried quinoa

i usually cook up a batch of quinoa on Sunday and sprinkle it in my salads throughout the week (extra protein!). Sometimes at the end of the week, we have some leftover quinoa and have to find creative ways to use it. this is where fried quinoa was born. just like fried rice-- same basic recipe, but instead of using rice we used the protein packed grain QUINOA! it's best to use leftover quinoa (just like leftover rice when making fried rice) but if you don't have any on hand, just boil up some quinoa and use as is. 

Fried Quinoa
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen carrots
1/2 cup baby corn, optional
2 cups cooked and chilled quinoa
1 tsp fish sauce
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce (or to taste)
1/2 sesame oil
black pepper

1. Heat pan or wok over high heat. Pour in vegetable oil and then stir in vegetables; cook about 30 seconds.
2. Add eggs and scramble with vegetables.
3. Add quinoa and stir fry for about 2 minutes.
4. Pour in sauces, sesame oil and add in black pepper. Toss everything together for a min or so.
5. Taste and add more soy sauce, sesame oil, etc... as needed.

I love the flexibility of fried rice/quinoa. Growing up, we always had fried rice when we did leftovers for meals -- typically we ate just white rice. Optional things to throw in could range from meats (ham, shrimp, chinese sausage, chicken) to more veggies (onions, broccoli, mushrooms, etc...). Enjoy!